Addressing the ever-shrinking credibility of rock journalism since 2007. With a sasquatch.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Off The Shelf: Orc Stain

So. Buddy ... you say you're kinda into fantasy, huh?

Orc Stain is an amazing fantasy adventure title from James Stokoe and published by Image Comics. The art and story for the series almost defy an accurate description. The only thing that is evident is the deep influence of Jean Giraud aka Moebius, Ralph Bakshi, Heavy Metal, Wendy and Richard Pini (Elfquest) art styles and Tolkien's story arcs. But just not one of these is obvious at any one time ... It's either Tolkien vs Moebius or The Pini's vs Heavy Metal with each segment of the story interchanging with one of the above.

The influence of these Fantasy masters is thickly interwoven by Mr. Stokoe with his own original spin to such a painstaking degree that new world comes to life. This is definitely an R-for-adults title with a lot of gore, violence, nudity and um ... ritualistic castrations of enemies?